An active directory is a directory service for networks which stores information about the components of the network. More particularly, an active directory is an arrangement of information about objects such as resources (e.g., printers) and security principals (e.g., users). The physical structure of an active directory, or topology, may include a number of sites that are physical groupings defined by at least one subnet. The sites control network traffic generated by replication. Specifically, site links use the defined sites to manage traffic within the network. An active directory synchronizes changes within the network through replication which pulls changes within the network from a server at certain replication intervals.